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6 Things the Supply Chain Industry Should Consider

In an industry permeated with complexities, every interaction along the supply chain is crucial. One error can snowball, creating the potential to lose millions of dollars. But data from the 2017 Supply Chain Digital Transformation Report shows that organizations can begin to conquer these complexities by considering these six things when planning their digital transformation.

1. Going Digital Can Create Efficiencies in Daily Operations

Today’s supply chain environment is increasingly dispersed and diverse, and positioning both employees and the company for success requires easy collaboration and information sharing including accessing real-time data from multiple warehouses, as well as fulfillment information from remote, offline places and more.

2. Utilizing Third-Party Data Expertise is Imperative

Third-party organizations’ data expertise makes working with them a top priority for today’s supply chain organizations. Popular integrations include things like payments, weather patterns or legal/business risks.

3. Embracing Technology Can Help Manage Complexity

Production errors, downtime or other operational mishaps in the supply chain can result in millions of dollars lost. To manage these complexities, companies can embrace technologies that eliminate duplicate processes and single points of failure and facilitate core functions like real-time reporting and seamless collaboration.

4. The Ability to Share and Access Information is Critical

Touchpoints along the supply chain may not seem majorly important when viewed in isolation, but an error at even one event can have a dramatic domino effect throughout the rest of the chain. Any lack of efficiency in exchanges makes its way to the end user experience, possibly tarnishing long-term relationships.

5. AI Will Prove Extremely Valuable to the Supply Chain

When a supply chain organization experiences a problem, every minute it takes to identify and solve the problem results in revenue lost. Thanks to constant machine learning, AI systems can prove immediately helpful in problem-solving with operations (day-to-day tasks, inventory accuracy), tactical goals (speeding up cycle times) and improving transparency.

6. Technology is an Investment for Now and Later

Embracing technical solutions now is an investment in future operations. Machine learning software’s ability to aggregate data and reveal operational insights in real time can help employees avoid operational errors down the road. But unpacking data-driven insights requires a digital system capable of aggregating information from many disparate sources.